Hundreds of people crowded St George’s Basilica on Tuesday evening to watch the titular statue of St George come out of its niche.
The celebration started at around 9.00pm, once the La Stella Band had finished its march from Taċ-Ċawla to St George’s Square, where it hailed the Patron Saint of Gozo as the statue appeared for a while at the Basilica portals.
A crowd of youth and adolescents, then stayed in the church for the Ċelebrazzjoni ta’ Xhieda Kristjana, where Deacon Anthony Joe Borg led a reflection on our fears and how faith in God gives us the strength to carry on, as it gave St George to the point it made him his faithful witness to the end.
Yesterday was the first day of the Holy Triduum. The main liturgy, which includes the homily on the saint by Fr Carl Scerri, started at 6.30pm with the singing of Vespers.
This morning Mgr Ġużeppi Gauci presided a Conventual concelebration with the participation of the Chapter and clergy of the Basilica, in suffrage for the souls of the spiritual pastors and priests who served the parish community of St George.
Further information regarding the principal liturgical celebrations at St George’s Basilica, together with other activities organised outside the Basilica, may be found in the Festa Programme Booklet available here.